hand me down hip hop

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008 |

Posted by:

Here’s a handy case for continuing to keep those pesky, out of date physical copies of music lying around. Maybe, just maybe, one day you’ll have the opportunity to drop those precious, musical mementos down the family tree. Case in point…

St Louis beat maker, emcee, and singer Black Spade would probably be nothing (in terms of music) without his father’s extensive record collection. Of course such a scenario never played out, and we, the fans of a more intelligent realm of hip hop, should feel free to count our good fortunes. That’s because that daddy’s wax – and all the jazz, soul, psychedelic rock, and folk neatly pressed up in it – made its’ way into a caring set of hands. Consequently, Black Spade has been writing, rapping, and producing ever since. Think an I-Pod will be capable of that sometime down the road? I’m not so sure.

The result of this hand me down success story is an artist who embraces a distinctive and rather scholarly brand of hip hop…one which is best represented by his ’07 Om Records EP, Loves Right Here. Over the course of the collection’s four tracks, Spade demonstrates a reluctance to duck and cover from a wide range of musical possibilities. Perhaps calling St. Louis home is one reason. Admits Spade, “We get a piece of everything by being in the middle”. But more likely, such touchstones come from this music junkie’s inability to turn his ears off to the world spinning around him. Spade listens to Prince and Dilla. But he also digs bits and pieces out of bands like Bloc Party and Radiohead, compiling them to his beat making blue print. Top all that off with his flip flopping tendencies to teeter totter between poetic, lyrical flows and soul squeezing song, and Black Spade is a precious hip hop commodity. One you’ll probably be passing down to your kids if you get on board with it. – David Pitz

Black Spade currently has some live dates scheduled. Loves Right Here is out now on Om Records.